Igniter compositions



fuel in jet engines.

2,935,839 IGNITER COMPOSITIONS v A Reality, Grosse Poizite' Farms, and Martin E.

Gluckstein, Farmington, Mich., assignors to Ethyl Cor por'ation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware No Drasving. Application February 3, 19,58 I .7 serial,N0. 712,676

4 Claims. (31. ail-35.4

" T inventionrelates to new compositions of matter and more, particularly to synergistic 'igniter compositions;

t The need for a chemical i'gniter infsystems such as jet aircraft has long been recognized. When, flame-out occurs in jet engines, particularly" at high altitude, reignition of the fuel byrconventional spark 'plugsis 'extremely difficult due to the-low pressure and temperature of the fuel-air mixture Theart has therefore recognized the desirabilitybf using spontaneously flammable chemical compounds for 'thispurpose. One compound which has been proposed for-this use is :trimethylaluminum. Its degree of flammability is' acceptable, but it sufiersthe disadvantage of a high freezing point (15 C.) which militates :against its use at high altitude and its handling jand storage in winter climates. Also,-it' is v arr-"expensive chemical. Another compound which has Been proposed is triethylaluminum whichhas the advantage of low freezing point, high heat of combustion and substantially lower cost. Unfortunately, the flammability-characteristics of triethylaluminum are such that.

itidoes not give rise to a stable flame at air-flow velocities characteristic of those which prevail during jet flight. I --It is an object of this invention to provide-new com- ,fpos'itions of matter, A further object is to provide synergistioigniter compositions. A still further object isjto provide new compositions useful in ignition of jet fuel under. conditions of flame-out at high altitude. Still another object is to provide'a new method of ignition of The above and other objects are accomplished by providing new compositions of matter which consist of mixtures of triethylaluminum and trime'thylaluminum wherein the trimethylalnminum constitutes 5 to 40 percent by weight of the total weight of the composition. lIt'has' been found that such compositions are eminently suitable as igniters. Among the advantages :are :(D'fhigh de gree of flammability, approaching that of pure trimethylaluminum,- (2) low freezing point, surprisingly far below that of tliethylaluminum, (3) high heatof combustion, approaching that of triethylaluminum and (4) lowercost,

well below that of trimethylaluminum.

The greatest quantum of; improvement over the pure triethylaluminum is achieved .by the addition of approximately the first five percent of trimethyaluminum to the triethylaluminum. Successive additions of trimethylaluminum beyond this amount bring about more gradual improvements in flammability. When-the amount of trimethylaluminum in the composition is greater than about 20 percent, the further gain in flammability is v almost Ofi-set by the cost and other disadvantages in herent in the larger amount of' trimethylaluminum used.

For greatest depression of freezing point,- at least 10 percent of trimethylaluminum should be used. For this reason compositions which:consist of mixture'sflof I I triethylaluminum and trimethylaluminum wherein the trimethylaluminum constituteslO to 20 percent by weight ofthe total weight of the composition are preferred; Moreover, it has been discovered that compositions of Patented May 10, 19 60 the typedescribed have a degree of flammability. w is synergistic. Thus, as will be developed in moreldetail later, the highest linear air flow rate which will permit the existence of a stable igniterflame in the test ap paratus used is about 200 feet per second for pure trimethylaluminum and about 50 ftJ/sec. for pure triethyl-- aluminum. Straight line interpolation between these two values leads to a calculated highest airflow for a 5 percent trimethya1uminum-95 percent triethylaluminum mixture ofabout 58 ft./sec. and for a 20 percent triineth ylaluminumpercent triethylalumin'um mixture of approximately ft./ sec. Actual values are much higher than this, approaching. 14-0 ft./sec. for the former mixture and ft./sec". for *the latter.

methylaluminum.

V The present invention also provides a method-of ignit-- ing fuel in a jet-engine. This" method compr'ism introducing into the combustor portion of a jet engine aniixture which consists essentially of triethylaluminumj containing:

5 to '40 percent by weight of trimethylalurninumand;pref-- erably P010 20 percent by weight of trimethylaluminum.v Thus, in a jet aircraft a tank filled with a compositionoff this invention, protected with an atmosphere of inert gas,'

probe isregulated so as to cause. the valve-to open momen tari'ly when the temperaturein the combustor falls below flame 'teinperatureand to closewhen the flame isi'e-establi'shed. Thus, when flame-out occurs the igniter composition is automatically injected into'the combustor -nntil the flame is re-e'stablished. In the event of 'a flame-out with pilot-.controlledvalve, the pilot 'actuates the controls 7, to :open the valve and emit the :trimethylaluminum-triethylaluminum mixture into the combustorsection of the engine. The mixture of alkyl' aluminums ignites and causesreignition of the jet fuel therebyfp'owering the. aira craft.

nalhis methodofrigniting fuel in a jet engine is'iapr I plicable to all types of jets, including turlxi-jetjs,"ram- ,:v

jets and pulse jets.

The compositions of this invention are made by simple blending or admixing of the two componentsthereof.

Since these materials are spontaneously flammable in the presence of air, it is necessary to conduct all blending and handling in an inert atmosphere. Nitrogen and rare gases are suitable for this purpose. r

The compositions of this invention are clear, colorless, mobile liquids whichhave extremely low freezing points. All compositions falling Within this invention are homoge-' neous. They react'violently with water and decomposia tion in the presence of air. They are soluble without reaction or decomposition in hydrocarbons. i

The following examples illustrate typical compositions of this invention.

Example I Five parts by weight of trimethylaluminum-are blended with agitation with 95 parts by weight of triethylalunii Compositions with y amounts of ,trime'thylaluminum intermediate between. those just mentioned exhibit similar synergistic gains im flammability. Whencompositions employing'substantial :13 more than 40 percent trirnethylaluminum are used, the degree of flammability rapidly approaches the calculated; value. Therefore, such compositions are markedly less:

' significant than those containing 5 to 40 percent tri num. The blending is conducted under an atmosphere of purified nitrogen. The resultant composition has a freez ing point well below that of pure triethyaluminum.

Example 11 Using the same technique as in Example I the following compositions are blended:

' The utility of compositions of this invention as igniter mixtures can be demonstrated by the following procedure. The apparatus consists of a two-inch pipe, to one end of which is connected a source of air flow. The air is 20 forced through the pipe by means of a water-sealed rotary pump and a small surge chamber capable of operation at 60 psig with a continuous capacity of about 1000 cu. ft. per minute. The end of the pipe opposite the air source is open to permit unhindered exit of exhaust gases. The air flow is measured by means of a Pitot tube located along the axis of the pipe a short distance aft of the air pump. The over-all length of the combustion section of the pipe is 1 to 2.5 feet.

A short distance downstream of the Pitot tube is located an inlet nozzle for injection of trimethylaluminum-triethylaluminum mixtures into the air stream within the pipe. This nozzle is a 60 solid cone-type spray nozzle which is mounted vertically and normal to the axis of the pipe. The nozzle is connected outside the pipe by means of metal tubing to a vessel containing the trimethylaluminum-triethylaluminum mixture. This vessel is protected by an atmosphere of especially purified nitrogen and is connected with a source of pressuri l nitrogen such that the mixture can be forced into the pipe by means of nitrogen pressure. The line between the nozzle and chamber tank is closed by a suitable valve.

In operation of this apparatus, air is supplied to the pipe with astable stream velocity of 100 ftJsec. The valve in the line between the pipe and the igniter vessel is -;then opened to admit the igniter to the nozzle and thence to the interior of the pipe. The formation of a flame or lack thereof is noted. If a flame appears at 100 ft./ sec. air flow, the igniter supply is immediately cut oil and the line is purged. The air flow is then increased and the procedure repeated. For those cases where a flame appears at air velocities greater than 150 ft./sec., the air flow is increased with the igniter on in order to determine the blow-ofi point.

For those runs where no flame appears at an air velocity of 100 ft./sec., the flow rate is decreased below this value until a flame appears and then increased, in order to determine if a flame which ignited below 100 ft./sec. remains stable above 100 ft./sec.

By use of the above technique the following results were obtained. Pure trimethylaluminum provided a stable flame at air flow velocity up to 200 ft./sec. Pure triethylaluminum produced a stable flame (but one which could only be started with difliculty) at an air flow of ft./sec. When the air flow was raised to ft./sec. a stable flame could not be produced with pure triethylaluminum. With a mixture of 90 percent triethylaluminum-lO percent trimethylaluminum a stable flame was produced with air flow velocities as high as ft./sec. and with a 75 percent triethylaluminum-25 percent trimethylaluminum, stable flames were also produced at this velocity of air. These values all lie far above straightline interpolation between the values for pure triethylaluminum and pure trimethylaluminum.

Similar results are obtained with use of other compositions within the scope of this invention such as 5 percent trimethylaluminum-95 percent triethylaluminum, 12 percent trimethylaluminum-88 percent triethylaluminum, 15 percent trimethylaluminum-85 percent triethylaluminum, 40 percent trimethylaluminum-60 percent triethylalumimum, and the like.

Further additions of trimethylalmninum did not sub stantially increase the degree of flammability. For example, a 50-50 mixture was stable only up to ft./ sec., and flammability in a 25 percent triethylaluminum- 75 percent trimethylaluminum mixture was substantially the same.

Moreover, as noted above, as the trimethylaluminum content goes above 40 percent the freezing point of the mixture begins to increase to an undesirable value. For example, the freezing point of a 60 percent trimethylaluminum-40 percent triethylaluminum mixture has risen to 40 C. i

We claim:

1. As a new composition of matter a mixture which consists essentially of triethylaluminum containing 5 to 40 percent by weight of trimethylaluminum.

2. As a new composition of matter a mixture which consists essentially of tn'ethylaluminum containing 10 to 20 percent by weight of trimethylaluminum.

3. Method of igniting fuel in a jet engine which comprises introducing into the combustor portion of said engine a mixture which consists essentially of triethylaluminum containing 5 to 40 percent by weight of trimethylaluminum.

4. Method of igniting fuel in a jet engine which comprises introducing into the combustor portion of said engine a mixture which consists essentially of triethylaluminum containing 10 to 20 percent by weight of trimethylaluminum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,867,081 Kimmel Jan. 6, 1959 

3. METHOD OF IGNITING FUEL IN A JET ENGINE WHICH COMPRISES INTRODUCING INTO THE COMBUSTOR PORTION OF SAID ENGINE A MIXTURE WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF TRIETHYLALUMINUM CONTAINING 5 TO 40 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF TRIMETHYLALUMINUM. 